No Sew Cardigan – refashion

I think I might be the last blogger in blogland to get around to making a cardigan from a shirt – but hey, I finally did it. So you get to hear about it

First up, I have had a pink stripe cardigan on my mind since I saw this post from Elle Apparel (follow the link for her tutorial) almost a year ago – she sewed hers and it turned out great – here it is:

hmmm, it won’t center….oh well…….

But is it me, I can never find fun knit fabric – like stripes. So the project never ended up happening.

But one day when I was wearing this pink striped shirt I have, I was thinking about how I didn’t love it – mainly because it was pretty snug. I thought – finally, I have something to “refashion”! So here we go – the before picture:

You won’t believe how quick and easy this is – took me just a few minutes! Fold the shirt in half and cut up the middle (of the front layer only!) like so:

Then cut off the binding around the neck – I guess you could leave it if you want to, but the shirt came up pretty high so I took mine off:

Then I angled a little “v” to make it look a little more blended – it’s kind of hard to see:

Now, up until this point I had planned on hemming the cut edges. But they rolled in just a little and I thought they looked great as-is – – so that was it, a no-sew project. Just cut and be done! I told Trevor “look what I made today” as I wore it and he was very impressed until he said “wait, did you just cut the front of one of your shirts” – can’t sneak anything past him.

Anyways, I really really like it! I couldn’t decide if it looked better with a necklace or a scarf, and thought I loved both – they’re both just different looks – so I included both to give you an idea of how to wear it.

And I even took a picture like the inspiration one. I tried the “look meaningfully at the ground” pose – enjoy:

So seriously, you can SO do this! just grab a shirt and some scissors. If you don’t have a shirt you want to cut up, start hunting the thrift stores…..

Thanks for checking out this post from www.SugarBeeCrafts.com – – click on over to read it in its entirety – you’ll love it!

About Mandy Beyeler

Mandy is a craft blogger who loves to blog and enjoys all things crafty, sewing, and DIY - she feels that if she can do something, you can too, and provides tutorials to help you along the way. She loves being a mom to 4 awesome kiddos and blogs from the Kansas City Area.

I have a knit shirt I’ve cut into a cardi just waiting for the seam binding, but maybe I can skip that step! I’m going to have to try it on and see. The sequins might necessitate sewing, but this is a great shortcut for the future. Thanks!

This is a really cute idea. Some caution from a sewer on this method. If you plan on machine washing…..don’t because your sweater will stretch. If you plan on sewing your sweater. Draw a line down the middle. Sew a seam on 1/4 inch on each side BEFORE CUTTING. This will allow you to add fabric to the closure without stretching. Anyway….hope that information helps someone!

I came across this today and thought of a black turtle neck I haven’t worn in forever because it’s too small. My question would be, what happens when you wash it? Does it roll and get annoying and then iron it to get it out or does it turn out fine? I’m a newbie at the clothes refashioning. Thanks!

I really needed to come across this today as I have a hooded pullover that I cut down the front and was going to add some bias tape to ONLY find out when I pulled out my sewing machine it’s locked up and won’t budge!! No sewing for me today! Now I know that I can wear it as is and be ok with it! AWESOME! Love your striped shirt…I’ll be hitting the thrift stores soon for more patterns to add to my wardrobe…

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